Letter to Minister for Infrastructure

Members please find below a transcript of a letter from NIPSA General Secretary, Alison Millar to Minister for Infrastructure, Nicola Mallon.

Dear Minister

I very much welcome the announcement you made regarding Health Service Workers and free public transport during this unprecedented situation.

As you will be aware from discussions at the Executive there are a number of other key workers in the public sector, many of them low paid, who are required to attend work to deliver essential public services. These are primarily, although not exclusively, in the Department of Communities. Many staff in the Department of Communities are required to attend work as key workers and ensure that the most vulnerable in our society, many of whom have lost their jobs in the current Covid-19 pandemic, receive the benefits they are entitled to.

This is obviously a worrying time for all and I would ask that you consider extending the free public transport to civil servants and other public sector workers who are required to attend their work to deliver vital public services.

This is clearly an issue of equality and equal treatment for all public sector workers.